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Day to Day Politics: Who is the biggest grub in the Coalition?

Dutton wins by the length of the straight.

It’s not unfair to say that amongst Coalition MPs there are a lot of slimy types. If I’m being polite, it’s my nature. Others might say that the likes of Barnaby Joyce, Julie Bishop, Scott Morrison, Christopher Pyne, Peter Dutton, Michaelia Cash, Matthew Canavan, Greg Hunt, Mitch Fifield, Josh Frydenberg, Tony Abbott and even the Prime Minister are in differing ways the sort of people you wouldn’t invite to dinner.

But they do form the collective leadership of the nation. If you think that in character they are suitable for the enormous tasks facing the nation please say so. Conversely, if you think they are not,perhaps you could say why in the comments section.

I recall the night when Penny Wong and Barnaby Joyce were on Q&A together. They were discussing Marriage Equality, and Barnaby was spruiking the virtues of his Catholicism, putting Wong down in the process. A transcript of the program no longer exists but I recall Barnaby making a derogatory remark about Wong’s sexuality and her rebuttal, referring to her family, was absolutely priceless. Now it seems family wasn’t as important as he made out.

If you have ever witnessed his cringing appearances on Q&A when surrounded by people of sagacious knowledge you will understand where I’m coming from.

Julie Bishop is another conservative without compassion. Some of you might recall this from 2012 …

Lawyer Peter Gordon told Australian Doctor magazine in 2007: “We had to fight even for the right of dying cancer victims to get a speedy trial. I recall sitting in the WA Supreme Court in an interlocutory hearing for the test cases involving Wittenoom miners Mr Peter Heys and Mr Tim Barrow. CSR was represented by Ms Julie Bishop (then Julie Gillon). (She) was rhetorically asking the court why workers should be entitled to jump court queues just because they were dying.”

Labor MP Stephen Jones said at the time:

Of course, solicitors don’t choose their clients but Jones thinks Labor should point out Bishop’s role. “You can’t judge anyone by their clients, I suppose. But she had some pretty dodgy ones in my view.”

And more recently this, referring to Barnaby Joyce’s NZ immigration problems:

“It was all at the behest of the Australian Labor Party, who stop at nothing, will trash any principle, trash any promise, trash any element of decency in order to gain a political advantage.”

Scott Morrison will of course be remembered for his statement that Cabinet wasn’t taking full advantage of the plight of asylum seekers and his rather indelicate remarks that Australia should not have to pay the air fares for asylum seekers to attend the funerals of those who died at sea.

Morrison’s oafish intransigence, a refusal to infuse any form of decency into his thinking while Immigration Minister disgraced our country in the eyes of the world.

Of course the one thing, the thread that binds all these people together, is their enormous capacity for lying. Which brings me to perhaps the greatest grub of all. The self loving Christopher Pyne who often calls fellow members “grubs” but now and then c#nts. He did this in Question Time and the proof of it is on YouTube

As a Minister of the Crown, he is an alarming spectacle. Is he mad? Is he a deluded, paranoid megalomaniac? Does he suffer an extreme narcissistic personality disorder? The jury is still out. It could be all of these and more.

Christopher Pyne is the second youngest MP ever elected to the House of Representatives. He is also arguably the most disliked. (He doesn’t mind that) No one has been expelled from the Chamber for unruly behaviour more times than Pyne.

Offence comes as naturally to him as does sleeping and wakening. His demeanour is crass and unpleasant. His self-righteous indignation is prissy, shallow, superficial, and school boyish. Some time ago the Coalition said that “the adults were back in charge”: then it’s difficult to imagine how this adolescent loutish, imbecile with an uncouth acerbic tongue got a jersey.

Which brings us to Greg Hunt, who a couple of years ago received an award for ‘Best Minister in the World’. It was received with much scepticism by many Australians. Even hilarity.

Mr Hunt told Fairfax Media at the time that he was “genuinely humbled” by the prize, but noted “this is really an award for Australia”.

The criteria for winning the award, according to the organisers, was that the minister should lead quality successful initiatives that serve the needs of citizens.

Any economist, environmentalist or climate scientist or journalist specialising in the subject would be aghast that a person who has done so much harm to environmental policy could be honoured with an award.

In environmental gatherings Hunt is referred to as the man for all seasons. He has long been admired for his ability to put the case for Direct Action without ever explaining exactly how it might work. Or how it might be paid for.

He gained a masters with honours in 1990 with a brilliantly argued thesis for a carbon tax to reduce carbon emissions. Then he did an about turn when Abbott gained power supporting Direct Action. It was then that he lost all credibility and has been ridiculed ever since.

There is an award at every climate summit called ‘The Fossil of the Day’. The award is given by the international Climate Action Network to the country which has done the most to block progress at the climate change negotiations. We are a regular recipient of this award.

After Abbott might I suggest that Hunt is a sublime liar who does it with a calmness that is frightening.

This brings us to Michaelia Cash. Writing for The AIMN in December David Tyler said:

“Pluto-populism has been a GOP strategy in the US since Ronald Reagan. It involves a super wealthy elite who have systematically learned to manipulate the electorate to their advantage. Its key feature is to use democratic processes to establish an authoritarian, autocratic power over the people.

It was deployed in Latin America; it is at work in Trump’s America and it is at work in Australia, too.

Recent events in the brilliant career of former employment Minister, Michaelia “Union-bash” Cash reflect how the Turnbull government’s jihad on organised labour aka “union thuggery” confer a self-righteousness which help Coalition MPs set themselves above the law.”

Josh Frydenber is another MP in the Hunt ilk. Calm, rational with Hunt’s grubby need for lying.

Although not now in the cabinet Tony Abbott has done more than any other to destroy our democracy and the institute that is Parliament. I have written more on Abbott than any other person, so the short summary that follows suffices for this post:

“Tony Abbott if nothing else is a very colorful character. He is aggressive both physically and in the use of language. His negativity is legendary and he has little consideration for any ideas other than his own and says NO to his opponents policies regardless of their worthiness. He is by evidence and his own admission a liar of some regularity. Added to that he has a political gutter mentality and little respect for the institution of parliament and its conventions. Like most conservative politicians from the Abbott/Turnbull governments he show an incapacity to feel or display compassion.”

Currently we are experiencing a shift in power from government to those who control the means of production, financial institutions, the media and large corporations.

Transparency isn’t something this Government displays openly. The Minister for Communications Mitch Fifield cannot explain what appears to be a gift of $30 million to Rupert, and is in the budget when there are no papers to explain it. An application to FOI revealed no paperwork. It seems it is just a nod and wink gift of taxpayers money between friends.

Yet Fifield complains incessantly about ABC bias and has defended his decision to legislate that the ABC must be “fair and balanced”. But private enterprise doesn’t need to.

The Prime Minister, the Hon Malcolm Turnbull must surely be the greatest hypocrite the country has ever seen so I won’t expand much, suffice to say that power is a malevolent possession when you are prepared to forgo your principles and your country’s wellbeing for the sake of it. Those who follow me would know just how much I have written about his leadership, or lack of it.

The new Minister for Anything approaching evil insists that “people are to scared to go out to restaurants of a night-time because they are followed home by these gangs”.

When asked to provide factual evidence of this the former copper from Queensland could not. No one is surprised for it is a method of demonising people that he has used for some time now.

Is it effective? Well, he must think it is because he takes every opportunity to use this malevolent methodology of scaring people at every opportunity. He is the sort of bloke I would never like to meet up a dark ally on a bleak cold winters night.

In short I have posted a summary of the qualities of some of our cabinet members. Surely the Liberal and Country Party can come up with better people than these.

Victoria Rollison in her open letter to the Prime Minister last December on this site said:

”This week you’ve made the call, through saying nothing at all, by hiding away, by pretending you don’t need to comment, to support your Immigration Minister Dutton’s blatant lies, designed to demonise asylum seekers by accusing them of paedophilia. We all know it’s messy for you to call Dutton out, to say he’s lied, to take responsibility for sacking him as Immigration Minister; he’s just as dangerous to you as Abbott. But Malcolm, just because something is messy and hard and takes a bit of bravery, doesn’t mean you need to rule it out. Were you never told as a child that nothing worthwhile was ever easy?”

My thought for the day

“Current experience would suggest that the Australian people need to take more care when electing its leaders.”

 

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41 comments

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  1. Clean livin

    Most unfortunately, all too true, and no saviours on the horizon.

    I ask now, (and previously being a Turnbull (labor voter) supporter and Abbott hater) who is the worst PM. Turnbull or Abbott?

    At least Abbott stood for something, and one knew what it was.

    Well, that’s AFTER being elected.

  2. Graeme Henchel

    This poem is now three years old and there are a few grubs who have moved on and few more who have taken their place.

    Twas on the good ship Tony
    Where all the crew were phoney
    They had no clue of what to do
    But make up more baloney

    Rupert Murdoch paved the way
    The Course was set by the IPA
    The Rich get more and screw the poor
    That’s the coalition way.

    Captain Tony kept on lying
    Distracting and denying
    Into your eye, he’d tell a lie
    Then lie that he was lying

    Chorus:
    Blame’n and lie’n
    Distract’n and deny’n
    These lying pricks played dirty tricks
    Twas all that they could do

    The first mates name was Peta
    You wouldn’t want to meet her
    She kept tight reign on Tony’s brain
    And no one could unseat her

    Old Bronwyn had the speaker’s chair
    School ma’am looks and beehive hair
    She’d get her lines from Perfidious Pyne
    She treated labor most unfair

    The 2IC was Warren Truss
    What he did was hard to suss
    This waste of space still took his place
    Right on board the bullshit bus

    The treasurer’s name was Hockey
    A big buffoon, quite stocky
    His budget plan, went in the can
    And now he’s not so cocky

    And then there was perfidious Pyne
    An odious man most prone to whine
    This silly smuck has his head stuck
    Up where the sun don’t shine

    That nasty man called Scott
    He let the refugees rot
    A Christian jerk with a vicious smirk
    Like Christ, he sure was not

    Foreign officer Julie
    Treats asbestos claims quite cruelly
    With her coiffured hair and deadly stare
    She’d plagiarise unduly

    The richest guy was Mal
    He played up to lefties well
    But his polished prose got on the nose
    When he backed his lying pal

    George Brandis was the legal man
    Though twas pretty hard to tell
    he set his sights on bigots rights
    Now his ego’s not so well.

    Barnaby was a country bloke
    Got red faced when’er he spoke
    This hyena was mates with Gina
    A Witless wonder, such a joke

    A backbencher was Malcolm Brough
    he played the game a little rough
    Ashby the squeaker, he sunk the speaker.
    And now his career is out of puff

    Kevin Andrews was a churchy guy
    Another “Christian” who lives a lie
    He sang rejoices for Howard’s work choices
    While Workers rights were said goodbye

    The environment guy was Hunt
    A receding little runt
    His climate stance was left to chance
    On A “stuff the planet” punt

    No one forgets that fool Abetz
    He really is a shocker
    He screws with joy the unemployed
    That man is off his rocker

    The medical man was Dutton
    His GP Tax is best forgotten
    Access to health based on your wealth
    A policy that’s really rotten

    There was a lass, Fiona Nash
    Could block a website in a flash
    Said twas her staff that made the gaff
    And nought to do with donors’ cash

    McFarlane the industry bloke
    in strange robotic tones he spoke
    Now Auto is rooted, renewables neutered
    And Scores of companies going broke

    Sinodinos was the finance wonder
    ICAC saw him moved asunder
    Was he Arthur or was he Martha
    Dodgy donors, major blunder

    Bernadi was the religious nutter
    he had his thoughts down in the gutter
    gay rights would creep, onward to sheep
    This utter nutter uttered

    There was also a fat faced f*cktard
    Christensen, a lump of lard
    This banana bender was a country member
    And a really dumb bastard

    From WA Michaelia Cash
    A screaming shrew, true Tory trash
    Born to rule and creepy cruel
    All bellicose and balderdash

    There also was Mathias
    He’s one of the best liars
    He helped the banks but gets no thanks
    Cos his FOFA laws were biased

    Andrew Robb was chief denier
    On carbon price a blatant liar
    His view ensued Turnbull was screwed
    While Abbott led them to the mire

    As Tony led his lying crew
    Through fiasco on to farce
    Amongst the crew, a new thought grew
    “we’ve got to save our arse”

    Dissent was in the rumour mill
    But who would take the dagger
    They had the spill but not the kill
    Though Tony lost his swagger

    This mendacious ship has run aground
    Their lying powers diminished
    The Murdoch press couldn’t fix the mess
    And Tony’s time looked finished

    But Tony had an evil plan
    He’d pretend to change direction
    Hoping the shit won’t hit the fan
    before the next election.

  3. John Lord

    Excellent piece Graeme. As a poet myself you have my admiration.

  4. lawrencewinder

    Oh, dear! Spivs, charlatans, thugs and neer-do-wells. and all with a level of incompetence which perhaps, in part, justify’s their post political remuneration. Then there are the “new boys” on the block Handy-Andie Hastie , Zero-Sum Seleslja, Reich-marshal Molan, Arfah da Spiv, Sinodinas, and Calamity-Jane McKenzie from the bumpkin push….I mean…. would you ever invite them home to meet your mum?

  5. Terry2

    Who is the biggest grub in the Coalition?

    Wow, John that’s a very profound question with so many vying for that accolade.

    I think I’ll go for a trifecta and have to give the gong to Dutton with Hunt a very close second and Barnaby coming through on the rails.

  6. Miriam English

    I generally don’t like to comment on people’s appearance (people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones — my appearance is certainly nothing to be happy about), but Dutton’s appearance has long bothered me and I’d been at a loss to explain it. I’d often thought I was merely associating his actual creepiness with his face, so the trepidation I’d feel when seeing his picture came from his actions. But today it occurred to me that he has no laugh lines. All the other horribles in the LNP have laugh lines. Dutton looks like he doesn’t display feelings. I now think this is why I find his face so unsettling… that and his psychopathic tendency for casually destroying people (though, to be fair, that tendency seems to be common in the LNP).

    Dutton is a truly repellent person. And I’m not talking about his face, but his mind as judged through his actions.

  7. Keitha Granville

    Is it not appalling that this piece is about the current government? These people have the reins and purse strings of our country, and some of us put them in that position. How and why completely escapes me.
    But there is NO doubt we MUST oust them at the earliest opportunity. Every day that passes results in more impoverished citizens, more profligate waste, more death and despair.
    Bring on an election asap.

  8. Phil

    Dutton personifies evil. He now holds unparalleled and unprecedented power – we can be certain that he will use it with vengeance and he has many a score to settle with his myriad detractors and enemies.

  9. Bert

    “Current experience would suggest that the Australian people need to take more care when electing its leaders.”

    Australians have an uncanny knack of voting against their own best interests.

  10. Max Gross (@Max_Gross)

    John, I always enjoy your articles but, mate! are you taking the piss? I mean: “Transparency isn’t something this Government displays openly.” !!! I laughed like a drain!

  11. Harry

    To what extent is their behaviour (lies etc) an indication that they are implementing a right wing agenda pushed on to them by the IPA, the Minerals Council, Murdoch, rich donors and certain employer groups? How much is due to their fear that One Nation will displace Coalition MP’s?
    And how much is ultimately due to the purging of most moderate Coalition MP’s by Howard?

  12. Ricardo29

    Despair. We have at least another eight months of this mob in power ( that’s a best case scenario based on the musings of several AIMN writers) and their incompetence frightens me. Barnaby is just a yobbo but Dutton now has immense power and an implacable hatred for just about everybody. And, in the words of Crikey’s Bernard Keane, we have a supine Opposition. It behoves us all to generate as much awareness of the government’s inadequacies as we can and to support GetUp! Which will campaign against many of these incompetents. I support them and urge other not already doing so to get on board. They have the energy and the organisation skills to actually make a difference.

  13. Kronomex

    What an insult to grubs. Grubs have a use in nature and the environment, sure some of them are annoying when they get loose in your flowers and vegies but they are integral part of the cycle. The same with maggots. They might make you cringe but they are a necessity. I’m afraid we’ll have to think up a new name for the genus LNP.

  14. stephengb2014

    Can I not judge any off them as a grub. GRUB is much too nice for any of them.

    But for my mind Dutton is by far the most disgusting and dangerous man that I have ever seen in the so called democratic West, he makes turnbull a saint, bishop a wannabe, and abbott an apprentice. But there are numerous dangerous people in the cabinet of this government, tudge, and porter, come to mind straight away.

    As for the self proclaimed christian sect in the LNP, abetz has to be the most evil, followed by abbott and morrison.

    Then there are the jokers. It is true that Keith Ledger played the best ‘joker’ character of all time, but you have to remember Keith Ledger was onlly acting.
    joyce is often characterised as a clown, but to me he is no clown, he is an evil joker in the best tradition of the Batman fairy tale, BUT this man is not a fairy tale and he is not acting, he is the real ‘JOKER’ of the evil kind,

    Then we come to leadersnip, particularly the ‘strong’ leadership.
    Now as leaders go I have to admit that abbott was a strong leader, he didnt need to say it, it was and remains self evident.
    turnbull on the other hand has proved, constantly, to be leading no-one, his need to tell the world on tv that he is a strong leader confirmed to everyone in the country that he doesn’t even believe that he is himself! But more to the point turnbull is not actually leading he is being led (directed) by big business, the obscene rich and the Right extremist faction of his party – he has on two seperate occasions – shown himself to be a plain and simple coward, how anyone can regard the wentworth waffler a leader is beyond my ken.

    Enough – I am getting depressed by thinking about the shear incompetance that the LNP represents as well as the collective evil that they perpetrate.

    S G B

  15. Robyn Milne

    Never in my lifetime has there been such a low grade government.
    What is blatantly obvious, the members wno make up this government care nothing for the well-being of the country or its people.

  16. John

    Richardo29, what a juggle!
    The LNP has to simultaneously prepare for its defeat at the next election, or a win.
    Think of how difficult some decisions must now be.
    The LNP has to arrange things so that it has the late option to press the Sovereign self-destruct button, ie, prepare to leave behind a toxic legacy of Biblical proportions for Labor; easily arranged by signing off on dud contracts at the last minute thereby sabotaging the incoming govt, much as Vic Libs did when they left office last.
    On the topic of incompetence and quality of politicians, this quote by Marcus Aurelius fits:
    “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
    Some of us have our work cut out more than others. 🙂

  17. wam

    Pleasant read, Lord. I am certain that you take your job as seriously as dutton. Are you are as successful, at your blogging, as he is at carrying out the tasks required by his party and the voters?

    Like you, Miriam, I feel there is something disturbing about his appearance and demeanour but, surely, it is the job that is lousy with mandatory actions driven by the media and the electorate?

    Lord, how would you assess the performance of shorten as the opposition leader in comparison to the zeal with which dutton, cash, hunt, pyne carry out their orders????

    IMHO the rabbott was the most inept communicator and incompetent politician(arguably pre-donald) in history.

    “Three years after becoming Opposition Leader, Shorten’s net satisfaction was minus 15 and his preferred PM was 32 per cent.
    In the next seven Newspoll surveys, his net satisfaction rating almost doubled to minus 28 per cent and his preferred PM standing dropped to 29 per cent.
    Shorten is tracking below Turnbull as preferred prime minister and now below Abbott as opposition leader.”(shanahan Australian march 2017)

    Shorten is the usual osmotic opposition leader a la hayden, beasley, crean, calwell and evatt and surely will be rewarded with the same success.

    For me, Lord, Joyce and Julie are the nasties that highlight the need for a commission????

  18. stephengb2014

    Australia is in desperate need of an Australia wide national corruption watch dog with police powers to investigate, and arrest.
    We the people need to make it clear that donations from forign sources, business, think tanks and unions are against the law.

    Once only donations by registered party political members, (individuals) are acceptable to the political party in opposition during a term of a government. but once only during that term and not to exceeding $1000 in total.

    All Parliamentarian travel and expenses must be accompanied by a signed authorisation of the Prime Minister, prior to the expenditure or travel. Any rorting discovered by the watch dog will mean an immediate suspension from parliament of the parliamentarian, pending court hearing. Guillty parliamentarians will forefit their seat in parliament for ever, and face a jail sentence, and the PM forefits his or her position for the life of that government..

    The LNP nor ALP will instigate or vote for these measures voluntarily – so people power has to force their hand.
    S G B

    Comment – yes , no , how?

  19. stephengb2014

    WAM
    I think Bill Shorten has achieved a great deal within the ALP (stopped the infighting, clarified policy
    – stated and promulgated those policies) and has given some great speeches both in and out of parliament.

    Yes he strughles in the popularity stakes, and has all the carisma of a wet dish cloth.

    But give the man his due, he started from a position of only limited high level political accumen, he has grown in the job and is holding the ALP on track to win the next election.

    Mind you I agree he could if he is not careful lose if he doesn’t get out there more. In spite of the MSN reluctance to give him a fair go, he has to find a way to cut through the MSN bias and make his pitch.

    I am secretly hoping he is just keeping his powder dry, because dog knows the LNP have left chasms for derision, but the opposition seem reluctant.

    All Shorten really has to do is take a leaf from the workings of Jeremy Corbyn, Bernie Sanders and now Jacinder Adern. The success of these three in galvanizing the Labor vote has been startling, particularly for Jeremy Corbyn.

    If Shorten does not ride that wave he deserves to lose the unloseable.

    S G B

    PS
    The neoliberal ideology is strong in Australia as demonstrated by the 2016 election.

  20. June Currie

    Always look forward to your well-researched,hard-hitting columns,John.Am in total despair at the prospect of having to endure another year of this destructive,ineffectual lot.

    Terrific poem,Graeme.

  21. John

    stephenbg2014 – a non-corrupt body politic is possible if there’s enough of a ground-swell of public support for your ideas on corruption checking.
    Further to that, what if all donations went into a dedicated Govt Account and then get dispersed proportionally among all Parties and Independents. The lobbyist or political party would need to sway the public according to strength of debate. The smarter party would use the most logical argument. MSM would need to be cut out of the loop for this to work properly; voters would need to access directly Party websites and not have their brains washed by Murdoch & Co. Just an idea. 🙂

  22. John Lord

    Oh Max, what words can do.

  23. John Lord

    June. Hopefully it will end in September.

  24. Jan

    Good luck with educating Australian’s about “how their vote counts” before the next election. Most are uneducated in this regard and could not give a ?$>%#………….. After seeing Barnaby Joyce re-elected in New England with total disregard to the electorate in the lead up to Election Day, I rest my case.

  25. Wayne Turner

    The people of the public that voted for this vile lying lot,and especially those that will do it again at the next election.

  26. Harry

    I ask: who REALLY runs this country? Are the Coalition “controlled” to at least some extent by vested interests? We all know that vested interests have influenced environmental policy. economics (advantage to business, austerity for the rest of us), media policy etc

  27. Rob

    I refer you to the 1986 film “Top Gun”
    T Cruise aka ‘Maverick’ to A Green aka ‘Goose’ “This is what I call a target rich environment”

    So many have failed the humanity test in the Coalition, failed the plausible deniability test, every test !!
    .
    Dutton by a short half head, to a close finishing LNP cabinet and remainder of the LNP on the backbenches and the senate
    DNF: The Institute of Public Affairs, Swabbed by stewards prior to race time and found to be full of toxic ideology

  28. Jack Russell

    PPM polls would be relevant if we the people voted for a PM. We don’t. That said . . .

    Dutton:

    My father was a policeman. Growing up I was exposed to many, many, many Duttons in the social setting of a juvenile family member. I came to understand about defective people. The seeking of the authority and the safety of the uniform. The breaking of the laws they enforced. The delight in their power, and of their camouflage. Their extreme lack of empathy. Their flocking together.

    So, not all “Duttons” come from that particular network of broken people, but the networks themselves, of whatever type, are essential to them.

    Drunk, or sober, coppers shouldn’t brag in front of “invisible” kids.

  29. diannaart

    @ Robyn Milne

    Following on from your completely valid point, I have to wonder how did this happen? May as well ask why Trump happened or Pol Pot. However, back to the mysteries of the Australian government; Abbott was like a bad accident, well a train wreck, make that two train wrecks. During Abbott’s, thankfully, brief term in office was the thin ray of hope, with Abbott gone, surely the quality of leadership would improve. Yeah right, be careful what you wish for, as we now endure an entire brigand of bullies – enough of the bastards to really screw up Australia, its people, its resources, the environment upon which all life depends… part of the answer is the corporatisation of politicians, instead of people with a vision we have business types who operate from the limited array of balance sheets.

    Privatise everything and all you get are short term, greed oriented, narcissists.

    First step towards a more equitable nation is a return to accountability, regulations, (all that red tape of which the parasitical whine so much) to protect both people and the country from the likes of Dutton et al.

  30. Rob

    Ricardo29 If I may quote you.

    “It behoves us all to generate as much awareness of the government’s inadequacies as we can and to support GetUp! Which will campaign against many of these incompetents. I support them and urge other not already doing so to get on board. They have the energy and the organisation skills to actually make a difference.”

  31. townsvilleblog

    While the temptation is to say Dutton, all 76 MHRs vote the disgusting legislation through the parliament, and in that regard they are all equally reprehensible for the damage they are creating to the lives of working families, especially the lowly paid single income families. I really hope the masochistic tendencies of the Australian electorate are over come the next election, whenever it is held.

  32. townsvilleblog

    Rob, So do I it is only $10 per month because that is all that I can afford, but at least it is $10 a month that they can count on every month. I also help The Smith Family who help poverty stricken Australian children and I would also recommend them for people who can afford to help.

  33. babyjewels10

    Dutton, Morrison and Brandis though Brandis and Joyce are interchangeable for their lies/treating the public like idiots and their lack of attractiveness – haha!

    Graeme, a great poem, can I share it?

  34. king1394

    But we don’t elect the leaders, we elect the people who elect the leaders. When we return coalition MPs because they are ‘good’ local members (ie they turn up to school presentations and unveil the occasional plaque) we need to remember that these people are also the ‘noddies’ who stand behind the Ministers that we hate. I don’t think the average voter thinks of that when they vote

  35. Wam

    Thanks sgb2014 that is my point he has done well, like the others, but they were not elected for the same reason as shorten.

    The voters see him as neither an opposition leader nor a PM.

    Should labor wish to defeat the lnp even with their problems. Shorten MUST reach the crease and bat not sit in an ABC box and make noises of comment?

    ps Jack we do not vote for the PM but we can vote against and the alternative is uninspiring. I know the prevailing attitude of the police in that my inlaws have 3 generational history of sexism, racism and homophobia some certainly make dutton seem normal.

    Who thinks Gough, Bob or the lemon were uninspiring??

    We can whinge all we want but, for most Australians, Dutton is doing his allotted task far better than shorten.

    Dutton is in the second rank behind bishop.

  36. Florence nee Fedup

    No laugh lines. No lines at all. Incapable of emotion????

  37. Florence nee Fedup

    Porter is not far behind Dutton, along with Cash and Bishop.

  38. guest

    I do not see why anyone would bring Shorten into this discussion about Coalition inadequacies. The electorate does not elect the PM. In the last election Labor lost by one seat. Turnbull delayed appearing in public late into the night. He knew that in reality he had lost – and his performance since shows why.

    To say that “Dutton is doing his allotted task far better than Shorten” is an ugly, spiteful comment.

  39. John

    But what about the biggest and most dangerous creep?
    It seems to me that Kevin Andrews easily wins that dis-honour.
    He also attends “prayer” (let us PREY) gatherings with the would-be theocrats in the USA.

  40. Hefina

    Peter Dutton is Turnbulls hit man ,call it whatever you like,Turnbull is a weak leader and he has appointed this hit man to do his dirty work,
    To give him this important position in homes affairs is a foolish move. Dam younTurnbull,you will regret this until your dying day ,
    Peter Dutton you will never be Prime Minister because the Australian voters will see to that.they have learnt this time we hope.
    These are the slogans coming up for future elections. Death at sea blame Labor, Manus island blame Labor, the Africans In Melbourne blame Labor. And more to come.

    This man Called Dutton is dangerous ,

  41. Rob

    Porter is a grub and so is Alan Tudge, his Victorian electorate of Aston. Which is no leafy suburban well to do seat, quite thew opposite. He bravely stood down from his odious job and the reformation of Social Security, to shore support up his own seat. Porter another WA lawyer is there like ms cash, to shore up things in WA for the faction riven libs. Dutton is a toecutter and everyone knows it

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